ThomBassmonkey
-
Posts
2,228 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Shop
Articles
Everything posted by ThomBassmonkey
-
I'm in two bands, in JWP there's a 2 pint limit before playing. In LJBS if I can see the guitarist to ask what chord the next song starts on, I'm not drunk enough. There's a different level of professionalism between the two bands...
-
[quote name='silddx' post='1247684' date='May 27 2011, 10:56 PM']May I ask what the objective of the clinic is?[/quote] That's the big question. As I said, I've just been casually asked if I'd be interested at the moment, there's not been any specifics discussed yet (if it even happens) but I assume it'd be a showcase of sorts of GK amps but with the intention of being interesting to the average person (as much as possible) instead of just a tour around the amp. It's very early days and if I'm honest, it's probably not going to happen, but it's a hypothetical situation that I'm interested in anyway as I've done a trade show for GK, it's not that big a step up (if it's even up) to go from pratting about on their bass amps for a couple of days at an industry show to being the main attraction at a shop. It just needs a lot more organisation on my behalf than "show up and prat about with a bass a bit".
-
I find people who are natural musicians are more likely to put the hours in because they get into it and enjoy it faster. I'd agree that practice can only take you so far if you don't naturally take to an instrument, but I always find it's more to do with feel than with technical ability. I've met some great guitarists that can play as fast as you like, but there's no feel in their music. On the flip side, there's people like me that are considered natural musicians and can pick up most instruments and play a tune, but can't be bothered to properly practice (I've not even picked up my bass in almost a week). I think natural ability is more to do with nurture than nature though. People who are surrounded by music from a young age seem to be able to pick up what's going on faster. As a teacher I've seen it plenty of times, the kids who have listened to their parent's music will pick up instruments faster than kids who's parents think they should have something to do so they get them an instrument and they have no clue about music. One of my best students when I was teaching was a 9 year old who's favourite band was Saxon.
-
It'd be a GK clinic for a local shop that I helped sort a GK dealership for, so would have to include the amps I guess, though I'd still be doing something fairly general. It's not 100% yet so if I were to get a looper I'd have time to learn it and I've spent a lot of time using soft loopers, it'd be a case of learning what the buttons do rather than how to use loops. I'm not so much thinking of a workshop style one, so it'd more be showing what the amps are capable of than teaching. I'm not even sure who I'd be playing to, it'd be in the shop so there's no garuanteeing it'd even be bassists so it'd need to be something interesting to anyone. I'll look up Wooten and Sheehand's clinics though and see if I can get any kind of direction from them. Thanks.
-
I'm not sure what I'd compare it to, I don't think I've really heard anything that sounds like them but in saying that, I very rarely use other amps than my own and when I do I tend to EQ from my bass instead of playing with the amp. They have a very fat, full sound. LOADS of low end but still very articulate, I've never heard an amp that can kick out so much low end without going muddy. There's a vid of Flea here, he's probably using a 115RBH instead of the 2nd 410RBH (live with the chillis he uses three of those stacks). The tone's pretty accurate through the video. The cabs specifically do lows very well, I've never heard amps that can push out so much bass without turning muddy (even turning the treble and mids down, you can still hear every note you play instead of turning to mush), they're very full range and fat sounding. The only reason I'm getting rid is that the guitarist in JWP uses a Mesa which is heavy in the mids so the scooped sound of my mini rig fits around it perfectly, otherwise I'd always keep this, regardless of weight. I'm not interested in Markbass though, thanks. Only trades I'd consider would be 5 string basses. -
There's a chance I might be doing one of these at some point, I've done the product demonstrator at a bass show, but playing at the same time as about 100 other bassists is easy, keeping people entertained while being the only person there (or maybe borrow a drummer) seems much harder work. Any ideas? I quite like the two hand tapping thing and have a few rough ideas from there, I was thinking about maybe a looper (I've fancied one to play with for a while, this is a better excuse than most I could come up with, even if I don't end up doing the clinic). Anything else? I'm a capable player, but I'm not good enough to wow people on a speedy technical level. Being honest, I find bass a fairly uninspiring instrument on it's own. The joy of the instrument for me is locking in with what else is going into the rest of the music and being the keystone to the songs, so it's hard to think of what to do on my own. If anyone has experience of loopers, it'd be nice for a few suggestions. I don't want an expensive sampler and midi floorboard or anything, I was thinking along the lines of a Boss RC20.
-
Bump.
-
[quote name='ConnorHamilton' post='1246653' date='May 27 2011, 09:07 AM']Not looking for external mate, I hate pedals more than a kick in the nads. And I'm really happy with the EQ in my other basses.[/quote] An external pre-amp isn't like a pedal other than looks. Apart from it being an extra thing to carry about, it's exactly like an internal pre-amp. It'd probably be about the same price and you won't need to route your bass out to fit it like you would a battery. As for pickups, ever thought about delanos? They're quite expensive, they're amazing pickups though.
-
[quote name='Jakester' post='1246069' date='May 26 2011, 07:03 PM']Rig is fine - MB500 through a GK 2x12 Neo.[/quote] Agreed with that, I use an MB Fusion and one or two NEO212s and they're great on the low notes. If you drop too low, as others have said, a gap opens between bass and guitar. Generally I only use the B string if we're playing a riff in D (and I'm still an octave down), I'm going down in a run or rarely in a few places, I don't often hang on the lower notes though. Using the notes properly is something you get used to, same as the higher notes, you won't be playing them all the time but they have their place if used well. You wouldn't get a bass with only 7 frets just in case you want to move up the neck, there's no reason you shouldn't have a bass with a low B just in case you want to go down, even if you rarely use it.
-
Christ, look at the state of the bridge on that "7" string. I certainly wouldn't trust someone that couldn't set up a bridge to do neck shims, change electrics (it sounds like he's removed a coil from the humbucker, not actually changed the pickup) and the like.
-
A longer B string is better than a shorter one (IMO it's easier to get the tone and tension). But scale length is far from the only factor in it, a better constructed 34" scale bass will probably be better than a worse constructed 35". I play two 34" scale 5 strings and they're both great. The shorter scale length feels better IMO too, I spent years playing a 35" 6 string but the 3 34" 5 strings I've had have all been brilliantly made and sounded great.
-
If you really love the Yammy, sort it out. If you think a new bass would be a better investment and keeping the Yammy would work well as a backup, then do that. It all depends how much the bass is worth to you. There's plenty of people who spend more money on upgrades than they did on some cheaper basses because they find the bass feels great but the sound isn't there, this is no different.
-
Thanks Chris, I suspect it's starting to approach the price that I'd get from trading it in at a shop at that price (if I can find somewhere that will take such a big item), so it's not going to go much lower. I guess people are still a bit iffy about spending large amounts of cash though. But it's almost half the new price now so I guess the proof will be in the pudding. Failing that it'll be chopped in at a shop or (as a last resort) ebayed.
-
£1,600? Any takers? Will consider a swap of the whole stack for something special with 5 strings. I'd consider swapping the head and one cab for a nice Musicman 5er HH or maybe a nice Status or something.
-
[quote name='Ou7shined' post='1245284' date='May 26 2011, 10:14 AM']Why can't they just take responsibility for their basses?[/quote] I guess because they'd rather have a fun night, go chat to mates and enjoy themselves than be worrying about where their bass is. If I took a Ritter or the like to a pub, I wouldn't be able to relax for keeping an eye on it. If I owned one, it'd get used for good venues and recording but I wouldn't take it everywhere. Even if stuff's fully insured, the hassle and time of getting a new custom instrument built isn't worth the risk for most places. It's not an obscure fact that the average punter wouldn't be able to tell if you were playing a Squier or a Fender Custom Shop, why take the risk with the CS if you're happy playing the Squier live? Should that mean that you shouldn't own the CS for recording or big (more secure) venues?
-
[quote name='4000' post='1243637' date='May 24 2011, 11:00 PM']The only thing that matters at the end of the day is whether you're happy, If a Squier does it, fine. If an Alembic is what you need, fine. Just stop worrying about it! [/quote] Respectfully disagreed. You might think you sound fine, but if all the audience is hearing is mush, your sound is crap. I'm not a pro bassist (working on it) and my gear isn't cheap but it's all top of the range stuff. Would I play a Wal or Ritter at the Dog and Duck? If I could afford it and I felt that it was safe, definitely. Would I play a Squier on an arena tour? If I felt it was up to it, sure. It just happens that I find basses that cost around £800 2nd hand are good bang for buck and do the job perfectly. I'd happily take my current gear anywhere I was gigging.
-
I've never gigged without a low B, I was a bedroom player for a year on a 4 before buying a 6 string when I joined my first band, I've since moved to 5 strings as I found I wasn't using the C enough to justify it getting in the way for riffs. I understand if you have small hands or hand problems that 5ers could be a problem as the neck profile is a little different but if you find a 5 comfy, I don't see any reason why you shouldn't play one. I play in two bands, one's straight rock stuff and the guitarist regularly drop Ds and does some low riffs, I can go down to the low notes without detuning. My other band I could use a 4 quite happily, but it's nice to have the extra notes there just in case. We often play songs in D and it's nice to drop to the low D for that last big note of a song, especially if the riff goes lower than the root.
-
I started another thread with this video in about the charity we're recording the song for but no one seemed to take an interest, so here it is again.
-
Bump for being prepared to split. I'm surprised no one's made an offer on this yet, I know it's an expensive piece of gear, but people might be really surprised how flexible I am on the price.
-
From cheapest to most expensive: Squier, MIM, MIJ, MIA. Squier, MIM and MIA used to be dubious QC, they've improved a lot though recently. MIJ has always been fairly consistent. Lots of people prefer MIJs due to them being consistent value wheras with the MIAs in the past you could be paying more and getting a dog. Apparently most of the QC issues are sorted now and MIMs and MIAs are more consistent, I'd still try before buying though. CIJs are MIJs that were made in a specific factory for a couple of years in the mid 90s IIRC (that could be totally wrong though). All of that's off the top of my head and since I've only ever very briefly had interest in Fenders it could be wrong.
-
Battles of the Bands totally sucks
ThomBassmonkey replied to slobluesine's topic in General Discussion
Not as many BOTBs are scams as people make out. I think it makes people feel a little better if they believe it was unfair when they go out. I've been in a couple of BOTBs in the last 10 years. One was won by one of the judge's nephews, the other one AFAIK was won fairly by another band. Either way, it's no skin off my nose. We went and played to a room full of people, most of whom had never heard of us before. -
It's not cheap. There's a lot of time and work goes into doing a good job of it. It's certainly not worth it unless there's a reason why you want to keep that specific instrument or it's very valuable.
-
There's nothing wrong with Fenders in my book. I was looking for a nice Jazz 5 a while ago and my first thought was for Fender. I ended up with a Sandberg and haven't looked back, but Fenders do what they say on the tin. To echo others, I think it's conforming to a standard. Most people aren't interested enough in what they play to spend their time on an internet forum and geek out in shops. If they're looking at basses, their first thought is a Fender. It works that if you buy a budget bass that you really get on with, then have money to spend on another bass, chances are that you'll go for a higher model of the same bass. Squier have good value basses, the logical progression is to end up with a Fender.
-
Remind me never to start a no reserve auction with 1p starting bid with you guys.
-
[quote name='victor5string' post='1231776' date='May 15 2011, 11:17 AM']Could someone explain to me how this setup works, sounds like an easier way of having the two rig thing.[/quote] Rob (Rmshaw) uses two Sansamp rack mounted preamps (RBI and RMP iirc) and a rack mounted 2 channel power amp. One of the Sansamps feeds one channel of the poweramp which goes to one of his cabs. The other Sansamp feeds the other channel into another cab. Since he's only using one poweramp, it's much more convenient than having two separate heads as that's where most of the weight and size is with a head. It sounds lovely too.